The Dallas Stars will honour Stanley Cup champion / Hockey Hall of Fame honoured member Ed Belfour this Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. The former goalie will be celebrated in a pre-game presentation before the Stars game at the Dr. Pepper Center (“Ed Belfour Hall of Fame Recognition Night”).

The first 7,500 fans in attendance will receive an Ed Belfour poster. The ceremony begins at 7pm with Dallas broadcasters Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh making the call. Former teammates Joe Nieuwendyk, Mike Modano, Brett Hull and Jere Lehtinen will be in attendance.

“It was a dream come true to win a Stanley Cup and be amongst the group of guys I was with in Dallas,” said Belfour. “It was a real veteran team and Ken Hitchcock did a great job with the guys.”

“Eddie, I think he took his job very seriously,” said one-time teammate Joe Nieuwendyk, who also played with Belfour in Toronto (2003-04) and Florida (2006-07). “He prepared himself that way every night to play in net for us and was one of the best big-game goaltenders I’ve ever been able to play with.”

Earlier this season, Nieuwendyk was celebrated in a similar “Hall of Fame Recognition Night” on Oct. 9, 2011.

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He may have only played five of his 18 NHL seasons in Dallas, but at the peak of his career, Belfour’s outstanding performance during his short but sweet stint here helped cement his legacy as one of the league’s elite all-time talents.

By the time he signed as a free agent with the Stars in the summer of ‘97, Belfour was already considered an upper-echelon netminder, having won the 1991 Calder Trophy winner as Rookie of the Year and Vezina Trophies as the league’s top netminder in 1991 and ’93 with Chicago.

He would go on to finish his career with an amazing total of 484 career victories, which ranks him third all-time behind two goalies he faced in the Finals, Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy, while also totaling a whopping 76 shutouts, tied for ninth all-time.

But his best years were with the Stars, including a stunning 1.88 goals-against average, still the franchise’s second-best figure ever, and a franchise-record nine shutouts that first year, 1997-98.

Through 307 regular season contests in a Stars jersey, Belfour amassed 160 victories, good for second on the franchise’s all-time list, and setting the franchise record with a stingy 2.19 goals-against average. His save percentage of .910 sits third, while his 27 shutouts are second on the organization’s historical list.

But Belfour’s exalted status here in Dallas is based far more on his playoff heroics than anything he did during the regular season, amassing an incredible 44-29 playoff record over that span. His litany of club playoff records include that wins total, his 1.84 goals-against average, his stellar .929 save percentage and his eight shutouts.

And while there’s little doubt Nieuwendyk deserved the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in ’99, many believe Belfour should have won it in 2000, even though the Stars fell in double overtime of Game 6 to the Devils for the Cup.